ayden coughlin

About Programming Writing
A close-up of Ayden Coughlin.

Hello! I'm Ayden Coughlin, a computer science student based in Columbus. This is my tiny corner of the internet where I showcase some of the stuff I have done and am doing.

Academics

I am currently a Bachelor's/Master's student at The Ohio State University, in the BS/MS bridge program. I'll receive my Bachelor's degree this semester (Spring 2026), and will continue working on my Master's degree until Spring 2027; both are in Computer Science and Engineering, and the Bachelor's degree has a Mathematics minor. I have taken a fairly wide variety of classes, but here are some highlights:

  • Graduate Algorithms (CSE 6331, A): This is an introductory algorithms class, covering complexity analysis, recurrence relations, divide and conquer algorithms, greedy algorithms, graph algorithms (including shortest path, minimum spanning tree, and maximum flow). It also includes a primer on public-key cryptography.
  • Graduate Programming Languages (CSE 6341, A): In this follow-up to the undergraduate programming languages class, we review lexing and parsing and cover attribute grammars, operational semantics, abstract interpretation, and type systems.
  • Interactive Systems (CSE 3902, A): In this junior project class, me and a team of four others created a partial clone of the first super Mario Bros game in C#. We were also tasked to add a few features that did not exist in the original game. We added a level editor, Yoshi, and a menu framework.

Research

My current research interest is safety in programming language design. I am currently working on C-to-Rust translation with Mike Bond.

Extracurricular Activities

Competitive Programming Club

I have been involved with Ohio State's Competitive Programming Club since my second year, and I am currently the president. We hold weekly meetings, featuring lectures and contests relating to data structures and algorithms. You can find more details about the club on its official website.

Other Interests

I also enjoy...

  • Reading: I've only gotten back into it recently, but I've been enjoying speculative fiction and pretty much any nonfiction.
  • Writing: Once I finally finish something, you'll be able to find it on the writing page.
  • Listening to music: Check out the Velvet demo page for a (slightly outdated) sample.
  • Performing music: I like to play the keyboard and the drums. I'm not particularly good at either.